Vladimir Putin has axed New Year's Eve fireworks displays in several cities across the country due to the war in Ukraine as a UFO was spotted in the Siberian skies.
There is usually a massive fireworks display over the Kremlin and onion-domed St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow to bring in the New Year. Fireworks at New Year were introduced in Russia by Peter the Great, but displays in Moscow have been cancelled since Putin sent tanks over the border into Ukraine.
This year the Red Square will be closed to revellers for hours either side of midnight. Displays in dozens of major cities across Russia’s 11 time zones have also been cancelled, including second city St Petersburg and Pacific capital Vladivostok.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin, a close Putin ally, said a poll showed people were against celebrating the New Year with fireworks due to the ongoing war. There have been claims that war-wounded could be scared of the noise from fireworks. There were also fears that Ukraine could sabotage the traditional firework displays.
This comes after Siberia was hit by dramatic sightings of a mysterious UFO breaking up in the sky early on New Year’s Eve. The 5.30am cosmic fireworks display led to reports to the Russian police in remote Severobaikalsk on Lake Baikal, which holds 20% of the planet's unfrozen fresh water.
The object flared brightly in the dark sky before breaking up into multiple pieces. "What the **** is that?," asked one observer in a video of the incident. "Wow… That's so cool. I've never seen that before. That's beautiful!"
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